The Endless Solvent

She managed to climb up without dropping anything. Within the dense foliage of the tree’s leaves Aris looked over the balcony to see him through the glass windows, still in his armor and pacing the length of his room. Carefully, she set down the buns wrapped in her handkerchief on the wide railing of the balcony and even unwrapped it so they were just sitting on the fabric. Then she broke off a small branch from the tree and threw the twig at the window, then retreated into the shadows of the tree, shrouded.

The Sekrelli student almost immediately came out, hand at the hilt of his sword. He grew very still for a long time when he spotted the buns on the railing to the point where Aris wondered if she broke him.

“They’re not poisoned,” she finally whispered. She couldn’t help it. His gaze almost immediately whipped to where she was in the tree but his eyes never fully focused on her. He couldn’t see through her shroud.

“Who are you?” he demanded. Aris noted that he kept his voice down and hadn’t called for his guards. Perhaps he wasn’t as spoiled as she thought he was.

“I don’t give my name to those unwilling to give theirs,” she said.

“I don’t give my name to those I can’t see,” the Sekrelli shot back. “What is a woman doing up in a tree?”

Aris smiled - she didn’t think of masking her voice. “Have you considered… I am the tree?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, trees can’t talk.” He had a lilting accent that wasn’t unpleasant to listen to. When he stepped closer towards her she could see thick lashes under a frowning dark brow. Her Sekrelli was rather handsome - it made it all the more fun to tease when her victim was good looking.

“In my tree-wisdom, I can see that you are hungry, yet reluctant to partake in food here,” she said in a mockingly mystical voice. “And so I present to you your dinner.”

“I do not like being made fun of,” he said stiffly. “Nor do I trust food given to me by someone who remains hidden.”

“You can see me as plain as day,” Aris said indignantly. “You can literally touch my branches. And if this food doesn’t agree with you, you can simply chop me down in retribution, I have nowhere to escape.”

For a second, the Sekrelli looked furious that she continued to tease him, but he held himself and then simply… deflated. It was very odd for Aris - she was used to people speaking their mind when they were angry. Even someone as diplomatic as Camaz had a way of expressing his anger, whether it be sarcasm or doing something to make the life of whoever pissed him off more difficult. But this young man just seemed to give up on it. “I suppose we earned that reputation,” he muttered. He stared at the buns for a while and then shook his head. “I apologize, stranger, and I thank you for the food. I haven’t had the best day and I am rather tired, forgive me for being defensive.”

A Sekrelli noble apologizing? It was worth the effort stealing those buns and climbing the tree to witness this. “Were the seas not calm when you sailed in?” Aris asked. “Or are the accommodations not to your liking?”

“What? No, no, everything is fine,” the Sekrelli gave an uneasy look to her general direction, as if debating the efficacy of discussing his life to a tree. He then gave a heavy sigh. Aris wondered if he knew he projected every emotion across his pretty face. “I just… I don't think I should be here. Although there are valuable lessons to be learned and important people to meet, I… I’m in constant debate if I should leave.”

“I know how that feels,” Aris said before she could stop herself. To think she could relate to someone like this. It wasn’t that she thought the Academy was useless or bad at what they did, it was her calling was elsewhere and she was wasting time being trapped on the island. Funny how a man who can’t even see her understands her more than the man pretending to be her father for most of a decade. “Perhaps you can take the next boat back in the morning and return to where you should be.”

The Sekrelli laughed quietly. It softened his features and made him even more pleasant to look at. “My father has left and paid the tuition with full expectation that he has no need to retrieve me until my education’s end,” he said. “I am trapped here, stranger.”

“Mmm, same,” Aris intoned. “Can’t really move without legs. Been here my whole damn life.”

“I know you’re not a tree,” the Sekrelli said, rolling his eyes.

“And I know you’re not a tree expert,” Aris said. “Or an Arborist as they call themselves. It’s how you can be so plainly ignorant on talking trees.”

“Fine, tree, then how did you bring me this food?” He pointed at the buns still resting on the handkerchief. “And did you just happen to have a handkerchief with you or do trees in the Academy habitually carry one around?”

“First of all, there just happened to be a nice, clean handkerchief laid there. Second of all, I am no ordinary tree,” Aris said, sounding proud of herself. “I am a tree that defecates edible buns. There had been no runes or Solvent manipulation involved in making these, they are completely natural and so I am offering them to you.”

He narrowed his eyes on the tree. “You expect me to eat your fecal matter?”

“Yes.”

“Insult aside, these look suspiciously like the food being sold by street vendors just nearby,” he said, arms crossing with the clink of his armor. “Are you sure you didn’t just buy them from that guy down the street?”

“I want it to be on record that Steamer stole the recipe from my fecal matter and he should be sued, but alas there is no justice for trees around here.”

“This is so dumb.” The Sekrelli shook his head but Aris could tell he was trying not to smile. Toilet humor usually worked for children and men. “Fine, thank you for the food, tree. Do you know to whom this handkerchief belongs so I can return it?”

“No, the owner has abandoned it,” Aris said. “But you should lay it out here if you wish for me to shit out more buns for you.”

That got a genuine laugh. She watched him wolf down the food hungrily, not leaving a single crumb on the railing or his armor. He was so hungry it seemed he no longer cared if the buns were poisoned or not, so long it satisfied his hunger. The Sekrelli were a religious bunch that did not approve of the usage of runes or even inherent abilities, but openly applauded those in its population with Manus abilities - hence why Aris thought of them as hypocrites. The young man probably felt guilty buying any food from the vendors here who all freely used runes. She found it hard to muster up any resentment for this Sekrelli - he was another person caught up in tradition and felt trapped on this island.

“Perhaps you should learn how to cook,” she suddenly said as he finished his dinner. “I may not be able to provide you with sustenance every day.”

“Or perhaps I should just buy food like a normal person.” The Sekrelli shook his head in disdain. “I should have been prepared to adjust to life here. Mother made it sound like they would accommodate me.”

Aris snorted. “They only accommodate the Emperor when he visits,” she said. “And even then, not for long. The Academy rarely bends for anyone.”

“That’s for the best, isn’t it? Neutrality at its finest.” The young man folded the handkerchief neatly and pocketed it. Aris didn’t say anything. “Thank you again, stranger, for the food and the company. Mayhap I will adjust my perspective on things tomorrow - ”

“Tree,” Aris insisted.

“What?”

“You called me a stranger. I’m a tree.”

The Sekrelli gave her direction an incredulous look. “Seriously? You’re going to keep this facade up?”

“What facade? I’m a tree!”

“Oh, so you’ll just be here the whole time? I can say good morning to you and you’ll say it back?”

“Probably not, trees gotta sleep too,” Aris said.

“I’ll wake you with a swift kick and you better be speaking in the morning,” he said. Aris stifled a laugh at the image of him kicking a tree early in the morning and demanding it to talk. What would his guards think of him?

“I will,” she promised. “You better try to wake me tomorrow morning.”

He let out a disgusted sound and turned to head back inside. He opened the door, paused and turned back to look at the tree.

“My name is Verne,” he said, smiling a little. “Pleased to meet you, tree.”

When he was safely back inside, Aris slowly made her way down the tree, careful not to jostle branches nor make too much noise. Her shrouding was still working as nobody took notice of her even as she walked in the middle of the street.

She wanted to watch her new friend a little longer; she also wanted to not return home to her cramped room in the lighthouse. So she spent the next half hour trying to find the right roof with a good view of Verne’s house. When she finally settled into an inconspicuous spot, she saw that he had finally taken off his ridiculous armor and wandered onto the balcony in more comfortable clothing. She squinted as she saw him move - was he talking to the tree again?

What a moron. Aris couldn’t help but smile.

She leaned back to stare at the moon now bright in the clear night. If she was back in Caelis, her father would be throwing a whole party to watch it cross the sky. She should be there next to her parents, her brother, Nilda and Rask. There should be a castle with food and people and a whole kingdom of people who loved them. But someone had taken all of that away and there was nothing she was allowed to do. She should be out there doing something.

What did Verne think he should be doing instead? Why did he feel trapped as well? Perhaps these were not questions a tree should be asking a person in their first meeting.

Mayhap I will adjust my perspective on things tomorrow.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw a shadowy blob again. The Shade that had followed her earlier was still there, just a few paces away and bobbing away to an inaudible beat. It was the longest that a Shade had followed her. “Are you going to stay here with me?” she asked.

Of course it didn’t answer. Ignored again.

She was taught in spycraft that being ignored was never a rebuff but rather a boon as those ignored have chances to learn more than those under scrutiny. Perhaps this is similar.

Being trapped wasn’t detrimental but rather a chance for opportunity. The Shade bounced up and down as if in vehement agreement.